FSA grants Fast Track designation for MEDI8852

MedImmune has received Fast Track designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for MEDI8852 for the treatment of patients hospitalised with Type A strain influenza.

The FDA’s Fast Track programme is designed to expedite the development and review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need.

MEDI8852 is an investigational human IgG1 kappa monoclonal antibody (mAb) administered via infusion. The therapy is currently being evaluated in a Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial to investigate the safety and efficacy of a single intravenous dose in combination with oseltamivir, and as a monotherapy in adult patients with confirmed acute, uncomplicated influenza caused by Type A strains. A recently completed Phase I study in healthy adult subjects demonstrated that MEDI8852 had an acceptable safety and pharmacokinetics profile, which supported continued development in patients with influenza.

MedImmune’s fourth Fast Track designation since 2014

Commenting on the announcemnent, Steve Projan, Senior Vice President, R&D and Infectious Diseases & Vaccines iMED Head, MedImmune, said: “We are pleased that the FDA has granted Fast Track designation for MEDI8852 as it recognises the importance of accelerating the development of new medicines for the prevention and treatment of challenging infectious diseases. This is the fourth such designation that MedImmune has received for potential medicines in infectious diseases since 2014, a testament to our commitment to meeting unmet medical need.”

MedImmune has received Fast Track designation for the majority of its current clinical programmes in Infectious Disease. In April 2015, the FDA granted fast track status to MEDI8897, a novel monoclonal antibody for the prevention of serious respiratory disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants. Fast track designation was also granted in September 2014 to MEDI3902, for the prevention of nosocomial pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a highly drug-resistant bacterial pathogen that causes serious disease in hospitalised patients. In late 2014, MEDI4893 was granted fast track status for the prevention of pneumonia caused by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus in intensive care unit patients, which is also often multidrug resistant.